SPENCER — Anyone who has been to the North Carolina Transportation Museum in recent years has probably crossed paths with the organization’s mascot, Mookie, the black and white cat that lives on the property and is the unofficial greeter.

And right now, she’s missing. Visitors last reported seeing the cat in one of her regular places outside the giant Back Shop building at about 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 2.

Mookie is thought to be between six and seven years old, and has been at the museum for more than five years.

According to Tyler Kent, public information officer at the museum, “she wandered up as a skinny, starving young stray cat and she immediately adopted museum personnel, who fed her, took her to the vet and started caring for her right away.” Her unusual name came about when one of the facilities employees “said she had the markings of a moo-cow,” so Mookie it became.

Last year Mookie disappeared because she was taken home by some well-meaning visitors who thought she was a stray. They brought her back after seeing Facebook posts advising that she was not a stray but a well-cared for pet of the museum, and the hope is that the same will happen this time around. She is microchipped and well cared for, with her own bed, regular vet check-ups for shots and flea treatments, and even “an occasional bath, spa days, massages and getting her nails done, and enjoys being the center of attention around visitors.”

Which means it is not likely she would have left on her own.

“Mookie checks out each event and walks throughout the site following visitors around, often dropping to the ground and rolling over for petting by anyone walks by,” said Kent. “She’ll pose for pictures, and especially loves the attention from kids who stop to pick her up or play with her.”

She is very social, is often seen in social media posts from visitors to the museum, and is familiar with the grounds throughout the museum’s footprint. Kent says she can be a mouser “when she wants to be,” but prefers the treats her human friends bring. Even staff who are not ordinarily “cat people” will stop and pick up treats to bring her, he said.

Mookie is a female, short-haired black and white cat with rather unusual, cow-like markings and green eyes with gold flecks, weighing in between seven and nine pounds depending on the number of treats she’s been getting.

The staff has tried several times to get her to wear a collar so it is clear she’s not a stray, but Kent says she dislikes them enough that she always manages to slither out of them.

“She has managed to get out of every one we’ve tried and we find them all over the site,” he said. “She never wanders off the site, but loves to explore around the grounds wherever things are happening or people are gathered. She does not like other animals, so she won’t fit in with other pets if she has been taken. Our staff members look out for her constantly, making sure she’s in a safe place at night and during bad weather.”

If anyone has either seen Mookie or knows where she is, contact Kent or museum staff at 980-305-6279